Back to school: What you need to know about vaccinations

Federal health officials from the Center for Disease Control report that nearly half of American men and women under 60 are infected with the human papillomavirus, or HPV, putting them at risk for certain cancers.
USA TODAY

Between Staples runs and mall trips, don't forget that updating your child's vaccinations are an important part of your annual back-to-school preparations, too.

Immunization Schedules

The state of New Jersey has immunization requirements for children in childcare and pre-school through high school. Unless there are medical or religious reasons, every child enrolled in New Jersey schools must meet the minimum requirement of dosing for each school-year.

Jo-Ann Jordan of Freehold is a pediatrician at Monmouth Pediatric Group located in Red Bank and Wall. She said that the group follows the vaccination schedules recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and American Academy of Pediatrics. She said that the New Jersey requirements are almost identical besides the fact that they do not require a Hepatitis A vaccination as some other states do.

Going to college?

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Even if you're going to college, there are vaccines recommended for incoming college students by the American College Health Association that are not required by the state like: Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Quadrivalent (HPV4) which is known as Gardasil, Hepatitis A, and Serogroup B Meningococcal.

Jordan said she "highly recommend(s)" the HPV vaccination for both males and females because HPV is a very common virus, and the vaccine has proved to be effective.

"It has shown to be an effective vaccine because we are already seeing a decreased incidence of cervical cancer in women in this past generation," Jordan said. "It also protects against penile and rectal cancers as well as cervical cancer."

Jordan said that the meningitis B vaccine has only been available since last year, so it has not been mandated by many colleges. While it is not a state requirement, it is recommended by the ACHA and by individual universities, especially places like Rutgers and Princeton which have both had outbreaks. She noted that people living in close quarters like residence halls and dormitories are at a higher risk of contracting it.

"The vaccine protects children living in close-quarters because those environments press germs. You don't see (meningitis) often, but it is a bacteria that is readily available in our environment and a true possibility," Jordan said. "The bacteria can get in places where they are not supposed to be like your spinal fluid or your blood, and these children become very ill, very quickly."

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According to the National Meningitis Association, there were five outbreaks of meningitis B on college campuses between 2013 and 2016: Santa Clara University, University of Oregon, Providence College, Princeton University, and University of California Santa Barbara. All survived except one UO student and one Drexel student who was in contact with Princeton students. Some students still face neurological damage, though, and a male lacrosse player from UCSB had to have both feet amputated.

Why it's important

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Jordan emphasized that vaccines are so effective that many parents of this generation have not seen diseases like small pox or polio - or even chicken pox - even though they still exist in the world around us. She noted that as a physician, she has never seen HIV meningitis because "its vaccination works."

"The success (of vaccines) is making parents complacent or even lazy about vaccinating because they think, 'Why should we vaccinate if there's no real risk for our kids?'" Jordan said. "If you talk to grandparents or older generations, they know what it was like to have these diseases around and watch children suffer from them."

She also said that by following the CDC and AAP vaccination schedule, parents aren't just protecting their own children, but they are protecting everyone. She noted that there are people who have illnesses that prevent them from becoming vaccinated: cancer patients going through chemotherapy, people on high-dose steroids, etc.

"By 'herd-immunity' by having everybody vaccinated, we are even helping those people who can't be vaccinated by helping eliminate (those diseases) from our environment," Jordan said. "The greatest medical breakthrough has been vaccinations, not antibiotics."

For more information on the CDC and AAP Vaccination schedules, visit cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/ or aap.org.